Featured News
Picking Cotton to become a major motion picture
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment to finance & produce the Jessica Sanders-directed film adaptation of Picking Cotton.
Jennifer Thompson founds Healing Justice Project
Healing Justice Project addresses the extensive human damage caused by wrongful convictions and works to prevent future wrongful convictions.
Jennifer Thompson gives a TedX talk at Furman University
Jennifer explores how a tiny action can have life changing impacts through the telling of her personal story.
News
February 25, 2016 | NC Press Association
Jennifer is named the "North Carolinian of the Year" at the annual awards ceremony of the NC Press Association on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. Click here to read a story on the event by Annette Jordan in the Asheville (NC) Courier-Tribune. Click here to see a list of previous winners of the award.
February 22-23, 2016 | Washington DC,
Jennifer and Healing Justice help to organize and then participate in two days of "listening sessions" at the US Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime where survivors of crimes and those exonerated from wrongful convictions explain how the system failed them. For the first time, a US Assistant Attoney General says: "On behalf of the United States government, I apologize to you."
June 5, 2015 | BBC Radio
Jennifer participates in a round-table discussion about the future of the death penalty on BBC Newshour. Listen to the podcast here (41 minutes).
May / June 2015 | Sheriff Magazine
Jennifer and Sheriff Gary Raney (Ada County, ID) publish Eyewitness ID - The Importance of Getting it Right in Sheriff Magazine.
May 2015 | Chapel Hill, NC
Jennifer creates a new organization, Healing Justice Project, designed to help all those harmed by wrongful convictions.
April 21, 2015 | Washington DC
Jennifer and Ron receive the Special Courage Award from Attorney General Eric Holder. The award is sponsored by the Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) of the US Department of Justice. Search for Jennifer's name at the OVC web site in order to see the tribute video.
April 16, 2015 | Tallahassee, FL
Jennifer receives the 2015 Frank Lee Smith Innocence Award from the Innocence project of Florida, Inc.
February 21, 2015 | Elon, NC
Jennifer presents at the Elon University TedX event: And Then the World Changed Me
October 26, 2014
Harm multiplies when the innocent are wrongly convicted, by Jennifer Thompson, The Hill.
October 6, 2014
System fails college students who are raped, by Jennifer Thompson, Chapel Hill News.
September 26, 2014
Jennifer and Ron receive the Beacon of Justice Award from the Oklahoma Innocence Project
July 16, 2014
Jennifer receives the Champion of Justice award at the 7th annual award luncheon from the Mid Atlantic Innocence Project, in Washington DC
April 11, 2014
Jennifer is awarded the Champion of Justice award at the National Conference of the Innocence Network, in Portland OR. Click here to read an article about that, from OregonLive.com.
February 12, 2014
Jennifer testifies on eyewitness ID reform legislation being considered by the Georgia state legislature.
January 16, 2014
Jennifer testifies on eyewitness ID reform legislation being considered by the Vermont state legislature.
June 10-13, 2013
Jennifer is featured on NPR's The Story in their investigation of After Innocence: Exoneration in Amercia
February 14, 2013
Jennifer and Ronald appear on The New Ricki Lake Show.
January 2013
Jennifer and Ronald's story is profiled as a pilot for the new TV series "I Didn't Do It" on the Discovery ID channel.
September 2012
Jennifer and Ronald are profiled, along with other exonerees, in Ebony magazine.
2011
Jennifer wins the Courageous Truth Award from Innocence Matters, Los Angeles, CA.
April 2009
Picking Cotton on the Indie Next List.
March 29, 2009
Picking Cotton debuts on the New York Times Best Seller List.
March 16, 2009
Jennifer and Ron appear on Fox News.
March 10, 2009
Jennifer and Ron appear on The Today Show.
March 9, 2009
Jennifer and Ron discuss the book on NPR's
The Diane Rehm Show.
March 8, 2009
Jennifer and Ron appear on 60 Minutes.
March 6, 2009
People Magazine's 3/9/09 issue hits stands, featuring an interview with the authors.
March 5, 2009
Jennifer and Ron contribute an essay to NPR's "This I Believe."
January 14, 2009
USA Today selects Picking Cotton as a great Spring read.
2005
Jennifer and Ron's stroy is featured, with others, in the powerful documentary film directed by Jessica Sanders, After Innocence, winner of a Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize.
June 1, 2000
Jennifer's op ed, "I Was Certain, but I Was Wrong" is published in the New York Times.
February 25, 1997
What Jennifer Saw, a 60 minute documentary about contaminated memory, airs for the first time on Frontline.
Events
June 27-29, 2016 | New Haven, CT
Jennifer gives the keynote address on the campus of Yale University as part of the Eyewitness Identification National Symposium.
May 11, 2016 | Raleigh, NC
Jennifer speaks on the campus of NC State University to the International Association for Identification.
April 20, 2016 | Queens, NY
Jennifer speaks at Queensboro Community College as part of their common read program.
April 18, 2016 | Chapel Hill, NC
Jennifer and Ron speak in the distinguished lecture series on Race, Innocence, and the End of the Death Penalty on campus at UNC-CH, along with Rich Rosen, one of Ron's former attoneys, and Mike Gauldin, the police detective who investigated the case at the time.
March 2, 2016 | Frankfort, KY
Jennifer testifies for eyewitness reform at the Kentucky legislature.
February 10, 2016 | Boston, MA
Jennifer testifies for eyewitness reform at the Massachusetts legislature.
February 5, 2016 | Chapel Hill, NC
Jennifer and Ron present to the Orange County Bar Association.
October 13-14, 2015 | Southern Pines, NC
Jennifer presents the annual Kenelm lecture at Campbell University.
October 12, 2015 | Pembroke, NC
Jennifer and Ron speak at the University of North Carolina - Pembroke.
October 8, 2015 | Lexington, KY
Jennifer and Ron speak at the University of Kentucky as part of its common read program.
October 6, 2015 | Cleveland, OH
Jennifer speaks at Cleveland State University College of Law.
September 24, 2015 | Grand Haven, MI
Jennifer and Ron speak at Lakeshore Middle School in Grand Haven as part of a community fund-raiser sponsored by Humanity for Prisoners.
September 19, 2015 | Cape Cod, MA
Jennifer receives the Savage Award from the New England Innocence Project
May 14, 2015 | Portland, OR
Jennifer speaks at the annual fundraiser for the Oregon Innocence Project.
May 13, 2015 | Salem, OR
Jennifer speaks at a conference hosed by the Oregon Chiefs of Police.
May 1-2, 2015 | Orlando, FL
Jennifer participates in the national Innocence Network Conference.
April 7, 2015 | Bloomington / Normal IL
Jennifer and Ron speak at Illinois State University.
March 24, 2015 | Aston, PA
Jennifer speaks at Neumann University.
March 10-11, 2015 | Racine, WI
Jennifer speaks at the Wisconsin Association of Women Police's conference on: Investigations: Getting it Right.
March 2, 2015 | Cullowhee, NC
Jennifer and Ron speak at Western Carolina University.
February 21, 2015 | Elon, NC
Jennifer presents at the Elon University TEDX event.